Tag Archives: employment immersion

“We don’t care if you’re young, old, totally blind, low vision, have a college degree or no college degree,” says Employment Program Manager Kate Williams. “It doesn’t matter as long as you have a real desire to go to work. We furnish our Employment Immersion students with the tools to make sure that happens, by building their confidence and giving them the techniques to conduct a successful job search.”

Everyone in the blindness community knows the statistics: At least 60 — possibly even as many as 70 percent — of legally blind people remain unemployed. That’s why back in 2011 we established a program to give blind job seekers the practical skills they need to get the jobs they want.

Since then, our Employment Immersion program alumni have reached more than $2.8m in annual salaries and achieved an exemplary 43% placement average for alumni, which far exceeds the national average in job placement of people who are blind or visually impaired (the statewide average is 14%). Our programming is constantly evolving to meet changes in technology and the job market.

On March 13, we’ll kick off our all new Employment Immersion Job Preparation Workshop at the LightHouse headquarters, which runs until April 7 and meets every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The workshop’s robust and proven curriculum emphasizes confidence building to ensure job readiness — and features our tried and true lineup of classes that walk students through every step of the job application process.

In the blindness community, we know that one size does not fit all, and this is reflected in the curriculum of this four-week workshop. With a combination of short lectures, interactive activities, expert speakers and candid, honest discussions, each blind or low vision student has an opportunity to explore their interests, aptitudes, and think outside the box about which part of the job market holds the highest promise for their talents and ambitions.

Step-by-step training includes:

Using personality indicators like Meyers Briggs and Gallup StrengthFinder to identify core strengths as a springboard to build a career

Resume and cover letter building

Job search techniques, networking and the hidden job market

The application process

Blindness disclosure and requesting accommodations

Interview preparation including self presentation and body language

Free professional and online portrait photographs courtesy of LightHouse for the Blind

“We spend a great deal of time on encouraging our attendees to connect,” says Williams. “My motto is ‘People hire people.’ We help students make connections during the job search and interview process that are genuine and show their own authenticity. We’re fostering relationship building — which is a lifelong skill.”

With an increase in referrals as LightHouse steps in as the key provider of services in the East Bay, our Employment Immersion Program is growing and evolving to meet higher standards and increasing volume of blind jobseekers. We’re proud to bring on our new dedicated trainer Angela Denise Davis, who will add new levels of depth and expertise to our classes. This year alone we saw our alumni land jobs in major tech startups, media companies, athletic brands and more. The sky’s the limit, once the skills are there.

Keep chipping away at those employment statistics and sign up for the Employment Job Preparation Workshop this spring. The workshop is open to people who are blind or have low vision, from any background, seeking any job. To sign up, contact Employment Immersion Program Manager Kate Williams at kwilliams@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7324, or Employment Immersion Trainer Angela Davis at adavis@lighthouse-sf.org.

Photo: Kate Williams stands on the sweeping ramp inside the Ed Roberts Campus where LightHouse has its Berkeley office.

Everyone in the blindness community knows the ominous statistics: At least 60 – possibly even as many as 70 percent – of legally blind people remain unemployed. That’s why back in 2011 we made a commitment to blind jobseekers to establish a program that gave them the practical skills they needed to get the jobs they wanted.

Today, we’re proud to announce that the alumni of our program reached over $2.5M in salaries – $2,513,630 to be exact – and the number is growing every week. That is $2.5M in value added to our economy; $2.5M of worker time for people who didn’t know if they had what it took to compete in the job market; $2.5M that doesn’t even factor in the amount those individuals would have otherwise collected from social security and state financial aid.

Kate Williams, our Employment Immersion Program Manager, Purpose Prize Winner, and job coach nationally recognized by the Wall Street Journal, is the driving force behind these achievements. In the last six months alone, Kate and her team have helped sixteen blind and low vision jobseekers find new employment. That is sixteen people who six months ago, had to rely solely on assistance from others.

We can’t take all the credit, though. The LightHouse students who have been through our program have received rigorous and enthusiastic support from family, friends, private donors, foundations, grants and the CA State Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) which sends many students through our classes. At the end of the day, though, it’s about letting our students stand on their own two feet and enjoy a little bit of financial security. As one student told Kate last week: “It was just nice to be able to actually buy someone else dinner, for once.”

Here’s to more dinners together, and more success stories in 2016.

The Employment Immersion Program is for people who are blind or have low vision, from any background, seeking any job.

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Northern California's leading provider of services, advocacy and community for those who are blind or visually impaired.

Our Mission

LightHouse for the Blind’s mission is to promote the equality and self-reliance of people who are blind or visually impaired through rehabilitation training, employment placement, Enchanted Hills Camp and other relevant services.